


Stories, Past and Present

by AvinRyd



Series: Painted Upon the Walls of Our Hearts [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Delta Episode, F/F, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, personal take on ORAS player character, so kind of May/Zinnia I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6716830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvinRyd/pseuds/AvinRyd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"“Well, go on, Lass. It’s not going to get any less scary standin’ there.”</p><p>Zinnia’s shoulders stiffened. She’d hoped the old Draconid would ignore her presence while she worked up the nerve to pass through the Elite Four’s final door. Apparently not. Braid whipping at her knees, she spun on her heels to meet the old man’s gaze.</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Aye.”"</p><p>--</p><p>An invitation accepted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stories, Past and Present

“Well, go on, Lass. It’s not going to get any less scary standin’ there.”

Zinnia’s shoulders stiffened. She’d hoped the old Draconid would ignore her presence while she worked up the nerve to pass through the Elite Four’s final door. Apparently not. Braid whipping at her knees, she spun on her heels to meet the old man’s gaze. 

“Oh?”

“Aye.” 

“And what do you know about it?” Zinnia registered somewhere that she was being rude, but really had no will to care at this moment.

Apparently Drake didn’t either, as he gave her a sympathetic look.

“I saw what it looked like on our end, for little Cora. I can’t imagine how much harder it was for you, if this is how you’re working up to it. Still, standing here like a Xatu will only draw it out more.” 

Zinnia flushed a dark red, almost matching her eyes, but couldn’t think of a decent response. Drake nodded as if she had and stepped forward, dropping a gruff hand on her shoulder.

 “You ought to at least take the walk. As a Lorekeeper, if nothing else. You’ll appreciate it, I promise.”

 Drake’s eyes were warm and fatherly in his harshly-lined face. Swallowing the growing lump in her throat, Zinnia turned away, tugging out of his grasp as she did, and nodded.

“Good. And say hello to your grandmother for me, next time you see her.”

Another nod, then her hand was on the door and it slid open with a whisper. Cool sea air and the whistle of wind through stone drew the young woman out onto the walkway. All around, angular pillars of stone rose from the mist to support….a pillar stretching upward. Just ahead, a spiral set of stairs let up into the monolith. Zinnia’s bootfalls echoed off sharp surfaces as she approached and mounted the staircase, but on entering the tower, all was silent. Carpeted stairs muffled all sound up the pillar stairs, but Zinnia wouldn’t have noticed them in any case.

Adorning the walls, every brick and stone of them, were murals. These first ones, here at the bottom, she recognized from tiny fragments seen on her Lorekeeper’s journey. Now, though, they’d been restored to their former glory, outlines true and purposeful. Advancing upward told the tales of primal Kyogre and Groudon, and of Rayquaza and the great conflicts, known by heart to Zinnia.

As she climbed, the light graduated from warm flickers to the glow of moonlight and, somehow, Zinnia knew she was reaching the top. Around her, the paintings of old curled into their closing stanzas. Instead of ending at the door, though, they seemed to only advance through… Why though? What else was there to tell? Peering close, Zinnia examined the door. In the center of its intricate designs was a small figure in pale yellow and lavender.

A wismur- No, Aster.

Breath caught in her throat, Zinnia placed pale hands upon double doors and pushed. They swung open heavily, without a sound. Inside, a huge circular room opened. On the walls, spiraling all the way up and illuminated in silver, were more murals. In them were pokemon and people, all familiar, all...recent. This was- This was her childhood.

In the center of the room sat a figure. It was at ease and cross-legged, face turned down and thrown into shadow by the moonlight behind. At Zinnia’s surprised out-whooshing of breath, it looked up, and Cora’s features were caught in soft relief. Silver light glittered in blue irises and outlined her delicate face. The smile that bloomed when their eyes met was almost better felt than seen, it was so bright. In all seriousness, Zinnia felt it rivaled the moonlight about them.

“You came.” Was Cora’s simple greeting. Good. Zinnia could do simple right now.

“You invited me.”

A nod, and Cora was rising gracefully to her feet. “I wanted you to see, since you were the one who passed down the Lorekeeping to me, after all…” She seemed anxious, despite the obvious familiarity she had with the space. “What do you think?”

“I…” What did she think? Zinnia didn’t even know where to begin. “I- It’s… This is amazing, Cora. How in Arceus’ name did you pull it off?”

The other woman laughed, ostensibly at Zinnia’s flabbergasted expression, and gestured for her to follow in a tour of the room.

“Well, apparently you get to redesign the Champion’s room, courtesy of the League, as soon as you take the position. Steven and I searched out all the lore caves in the region, I copied down and restored them, then I had this built.” Here the flow of speech was halted by a skip and a twirl, “And, best of all, when I step down, Devon Inc. has pledged to house the restorations in a museum that’s already being built for the purpose.

Zinnia was nigh-on gaping now. Everything she’d ever wished for as a Lorekeeper, to tell the stories and teach the world; it was all happening-

“I have you to thank for it.” Cora added, as if reading her thoughts. “So, thank you…"

Their eyes met again and Zinnia felt her knees go the slightest bit weak. There was a lot in those azure depths: hope, gratitude, anxiety, curiosity, and a warmth that rivaled the sun on a summer’s day. The dragon trainer didn’t know what she was displaying in return, but if Cora’s soft smile was anything to go by, it was on the lines of her thoughts.

“Um.” She managed, intelligently.

Seeming to understand the emotion that stuck in Zinnia’s throat, Cora reached to take her hand. A bit stunned, Zinnia returned the offered gesture. The touch sent warmth tingling up her arm and settling into her chest. It was surprising, really, this depth of feeling still remaining after all these years, but she was in no mood to question it now.

Hand in hand, they circled the room, silently examining the murals. Or, rather, Zinnia examined the murals while Cora not-so-subtly watched her. Zinnia was about to comment on it when something caught her own gaze.

“Cora… What’s this?”

Slim fingertips traced a blank swirl of wall. It reached all the way up and around to meet with the climax of the room’s story, but seemed to be waiting for something.

“It’s yours.”

……

“What?”

“It’s yours. You weren’t here, and I didn’t want to stick my nose where it wasn’t wanted, but you’re just as much a part of the story as me, and everyone else… I figured I’d just leave it blank until-”

The pause hung in the air and neither put forth a suggestion for it. Instead, their grip on one another tightened just a bit. Finally, Zinnia managed to croak,  
“Do you have any paint?”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @themodethecitythesoul for more shenanigans.


End file.
